Ross Greenwood meets the woman he defended from racial abuse

Recently, we shared the story of a woman who was verbally abused in Sydney's CBD just because she was wearing a headscarf. 

Student Mona, 21, was on her way to a job interview when a woman began to yell at her, seemingly just because she was wearing a hijab. 

Mona spoke to 9Honey about the shocking incident, explaining:

"I was on my way to an interview, totally focused on getting there, doing well and I could hear a woman behind me yelling about my scarf. I’m just like 'yeah, I’m going to ignore this, because she’s behind me'. 

"The funny thing is, given the climate you kind of expect that to happen, so you prep for it. So I think to myself, 'I’m not going to get upset, I’m not gonna yell at her, I’m going to just totally own it and be fine.’ But then we stopped at a light and she came around to my face, that’s when you forget everything you’ve prepped.

"I tried to yell back and say 'It’s none of your business', and then two people intervened, and that’s when I just broke down in tears.”

One of those people was Ross Greenwood, business and finance editor for 9News. At the time, a woman who was verbally abused in Sydney's CBD how the woman began "screaming her nut off" at Mona.

Mona saw Ross’ story, and got in touch to ask to meet him. The two sat down to discuss the incident, and how it affected them. 

"It was really confronting, to have a woman in the middle of the city just taking on Mona in this way", Ross explained. "For any person’s standards, it was just wrong. 

"I think more people, regardless of where you see bad behaviour of this nature, you call it out. And not let someone else do it...you’ve got to actually step in and stand up for somebody. Mona was doing absolutely nothing wrong, going about her business, like any person in the street.”

"It’s something that I unfortunately expect to happen at some point, as do a lot of my friends, so it’s just a matter of when."

Both Mona and Ross agree that the shocking incident is something we should all be trying to learn from. 

Ross told 9Honey: "Isn’t it strange in a society where it’s criminal law not to discriminate against somebody based on sex, race or religion, or age, that you suddenly find that this takes place? 

"Treat people as you find them. Look after people; that’s what this is all about."